Service Efforts Get Presidential Nod

NC State has been named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, making it one of 113 institutions nationwide to receive the award with distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Four other North Carolina schools made the list, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina Central University and Warren Wilson College.

Inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled across the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, CNCS has administered the award since 2006.

“Communities are strengthened when we all come together, and we are encouraged that these institutions and their students have made service a priority,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Civic engagement should be a key component of every student’s education experience.”

College students make a significant contribution to their communities through volunteering and service, according to the most recent Volunteering and Civic Life in America report. In 2012, 3.1 million college students dedicated more than 118 million hours of service across the country—a contribution valued at $2.5 billion.

At NC State, service opportunities abound—in the classroom, on campus, in the community and around the world. The award application allows an institution to highlight three specific programs or initiatives. NC State’s application focused on:

• Various hunger initiatives involving students, faculty, staff and community partners, such as the statewide hunger dialogue, Service NC State/Stop Hunger Now, the Feed the Pack food pantry and the President William Jefferson Clinton Hunger Leadership Award, among others.
• John Begeny’s HELPS program (Helping Early Literacy with Practice), a research-driven approach to addressing the issue of reading fluency in literacy education.
• The university’s partnership with the American Red Cross through Service NC State.

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is administered by CNCS in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the American Council on Education and Campus Compact.